Synopses & Reviews
From one of the most celebrated novelists of her generation, the story of a woman in the Vietnam War"After my first book was published, I received some letters." So begins Sigrid Nunez's haunting novel about the poignant and unusual friendship between a writer and a retired army nurse who seeks her out decades after their childhood in the same housing project. Among the letters the narrator receives is one from a Rouenna Zycinski, recalling their old connection and asking if they can meet.Though fascinated by the stories Rouenna tells about her life as a combat nurse in Vietnam, the narrator flatly declines her request that they collaborate on a memoir. It is only later, in the aftermath of Rouenna's shocking death, that the narrator is drawn to write about her friend--and her friend's war. Writing Rouenna's story becomes all-consuming, at once a necessity and the only consolation.
For Rouenna, an unforgettable novel about truth, memory, and unexpected heroism by one of the most gifted writers of her generation, is also a remarkable and surprising new look at war.
Review
"An entirely different kind of war novel...Nunez's Vietnam is assembled with a long lens and crafted in her spare, gorgeous prose....What emerges is something that feels like truth." San Francisco Chronicle
Review
"Resonant and provocative." Vogue
Review
"Writing a nearly transparent prose, reminiscent of Richard Yates, Nunez takes us breathlessly through the slow unraveling of Rouenna's life and, like the events in Yates' stories, the details are harrowing." Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review
"A slow starter that is ultimately very satisfying." Library Journal
Review
"A sad, touching tale of friendship and a smart, subtle dialogue on just where a culture's stories come from." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
In this haunting novel, a friendship springs up between a writer and a retired army nurse who seeks her out decades after their childhood in the same housing project. For Rouenna is an unforgettable work about truth, memory, and unexpected heroism by one of the most gifted writers of her generation.
Synopsis
From the National Book Award-winning author of The Friend, one of the most celebrated novelists of her generation, the story of a woman's experiences in the Vietnam War
After my first book was published, I received some letters. So begins Sigrid Nunez's haunting novel about the poignant and unusual friendship between a writer and a retired army nurse who seeks her out decades after their childhood in the same housing project. Among the letters the narrator receives is one from a Rouenna Zycinski, recalling their old connection and asking if they can meet.Though fascinated by the stories Rouenna tells about her life as a combat nurse in Vietnam, the narrator flatly declines her request that they collaborate on a memoir. It is only later, in the aftermath of Rouenna's shocking death, that the narrator is drawn to write about her friend--and her friend's war. Writing Rouenna's story becomes all-consuming, at once a necessity and the only consolation.
For Rouenna, an unforgettable novel about truth, memory, and unexpected heroism by one of the most gifted writers of her generation, is also a remarkable and surprising new look at war.
Synopsis
From one of the most celebrated novelists of her generation, the story of a woman in the Vietnam War.
"After my first book was published, I received some letters." So begins Sigrid Nunez's haunting novel about the poignant and unusual friendship between a writer and a retired army nurse who seeks her out decades after their childhood in the same housing project. Among the letters the narrator receives is one from a Rouenna Zycinski, recalling their old connection and asking if they can meet. Though fascinated by the stories Rouenna tells about her life as a combat nurse in Vietnam, the narrator flatly declines her request that they collaborate on a memoir. It is only later, in the aftermath of Rouenna's shocking death, that the narrator is drawn to write about her friend and her friend's war. Writing Rouenna's story becomes all-consuming, at once a necessity and the only consolation.
For Rouenna, an unforgettable novel about truth, memory, and unexpected heroism by one of the most gifted writers of her generation, is also a remarkable and surprising new look at war.
About the Author
Sigrid Nunez is the author of
A Feather on the Breath of God, Naked Sleeper, and
Mitz:
The Marmoset of Bloomsbury. She has been the recipient of a Whiting Writer's Award and of two awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters: the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award and the Rome Prize in Literature.